Ba`alat Gebal
Ba‘alat Gebal, 'Lady of
Byblos', was the goddess of the city of Byblos, sometimes known to the Greeks as
Baaltis.
She was generally identified with the pan-Semitic goddess
‘Ashtar and so equated with the Greek goddess
Aphrodite. However
Sanchuniathon equates her with the Greek goddess
Dione and presents her as a sister of ‘Ashtart (Aphrodite) and
Rhea (who is probably
Asherah), all three being wives of
El. He says she bore daughters to El and that it was El who gave the city of Byblos to Baaltis who is also called Dione.
Ba‘alat Gebal was distinguished in iconography from ‘Ashtart or other aspects of ‘Ashtart or similar goddesses by two, tall, upright feathers in her headdress.
The temple of Ba‘al Gebal in Byblus was built around
2700 BC. Dedications from Egyptians begin appearing from the 2nd to 6th dynasties. Two of them equate Ba‘alat Gebal with the Egyptian goddess
Hathor.
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Roman statue of Ba‘al Gebal*
Temple of Ba‘al Gebal
